


Better

by Kedavranox



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Domestic Violence, Hurt Harry, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-01
Updated: 2013-12-01
Packaged: 2018-01-02 22:03:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1062141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kedavranox/pseuds/Kedavranox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry comes home after another fight with his boyfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better

**Title:** Better  
 **Pairing** : Harry/OMC  
 **Disclaimer** : Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.  
 **Rating** : NC-17  
 **Warnings (Highlight to view)** :*mentions of physical abuse*  
 **Word Count** 895  
 **Summary** : Harry comes home after another fight with his boyfriend.  
 **Author Notes** : Written for the [](http://hogwarts365.livejournal.com/profile)[**hogwarts365**](http://hogwarts365.livejournal.com/) prompt of Physical Abuse. Clearly it’s not 365 words, so I’m posting it here instead. Unbeta’d, so please forgive any errors.

 

 

 

**Better**

 

 

 

Harry leans over the sink and peers into the mirror, gingerly dabbing his split lip with his index finger. His left eye is slightly swollen, but by tomorrow it’s going to look a lot worse, unless he gets Draco to heal it.

Which he probably won't.

This isn’t the first time things have gone out of hand between him and his boyfriend, Ian. His roommates have all heard the fights at one point or another, especially when Ian drinks. So much so, that Harry had stopped bringing his boyfriend over to the flat, or letting Ian tag along when he Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Draco and Blaise head out for a pint.

Harry even decided to give his roommates the impression that they’d broken up. It was just easier this way, rather than dealing with Ron or Draco’s angry questions about his occasional bruises, or the way the tips of Ron’s ears would grow red any time Ian was even mentioned.

His friends don’t _get_ his relationship with Ian. They were both passionate and hot tempered, and sometimes, yeah, things get out of hand. Ian’s tall and built like a beater, and most of times Harry is the one who nurses the worst of the bruises - but he definitely gives as good as he gets

He’s with Ian on his own terms. Even if he has to sneak out of the house and take him to one of the lesser known wizard pubs, or one of the Muggle clubs with the flashing lights and the free drink specials.

Tonight, things got intense when Harry, just for a second, found himself grinding against a short blond man, letting him press his lips against Harry’s neck before Ian found them and sent the other man away with a shove. After that, Ian was furious and clingy, which pissed Harry off and made him drink too much. Afterwards they fought like tomcats, drunk and unsteady.

When it was over, Ian fucked him up against a wall behind the club. He was too numb to feel it then, but a rough fuck probably wasn’t the best idea, with the way his ribs burn with pain now.

Neither of them knew any good healing charms, so they both Apparated away, bloody and bruised.

He starts slightly when the bathroom door opens and Draco steps in behind him.

Draco takes one look at Harry’s face and scowls, the jaw in his muscle twitching dangerously. ‘I _knew_ you were still seeing him,’ he says. ‘What happened this time?’

‘Nothing,’ Harry says, avoiding Draco’s gaze. ‘We’re blokes. We fight. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand.’

Draco holds Harry’s face in his palms, examining the bruises closely.‘Out of hand? This is more than a little out of hand, Potter.’

Harry sighs and pulls away. ‘I don’t want to fight, okay? Everyone’s asleep.’

He winces as he takes a step back and Draco narrows his eyes and lifts Harry’s shirt.

His face pales. ‘I think you've broken a rib,’ he says, voice flat.

Harry looks away. ‘It was an accident. We just went too far,’ he says. ‘Would you please just heal it?’

Draco hesitates, his fingers hovering over Harry’s bruise, and then he turns around, opening the medicine cabinet, pulling out several ungents and creams and dropping them into the sink. ‘This isn’t the way relationships are supposed to be, Harry,’ he says, uncapping two vials and mixing two different foul smelling pastes in the palm of his hand. ‘And if you’d ever been in any type of _normal_ relationship, you would see that.’

Harry scowls. ‘What, with you, you mean?’

Draco blinks at him, his gaze hardening. ‘We tried that already, didn’t we?’ he murmurs. ‘So no, not with me.’’

Harry looks away, swallowing against the unexpected tightness in his throat.

Draco sighs. ‘It feels like nothing I say, or Weasley says or _anyone_ says is ever going to convince you of this, so this is the last time you’ll hear it from me. You deserve better, Harry. Someone who doesn’t try to make his point with his fists.’

Harry swallows again, but he doesn’t respond. He can’t.

Draco lifts his shirt again and Harry leans back and closes his eyes, holding back a sigh as Draco gently dabs the paste against his skin.

He knows what Draco says is probably true, but, he can’t bring himself to care. Not when he fucked up the only real relationship he ever had.

Ian’s the best he can do now. It’s just the way things are.

 

~fin  



End file.
